The Rules in Sunnydale
by Elfsong
Summary: There are some rules that must be followed when living on the Hellmouth, as Riley is about to learn. It's the only way to stay alive.


Author: Elfsong  
  
Titles: The Rules of Sunnydale  
  
Notes: After watching the episode, "Doomed", I thought of this thing.  
  
Summary: There are some rules that must be followed when living on the Hellmouth, as Riley is about to learn.  
  
= =  
  
Riley Finn sat on his dorm bed, tossing his basketball back and forth between hands. A sudden knocking at his door alerted him to company. Buffy had said that she would try to stop by today.  
  
"Come in."  
  
"That's dangerous to say, mate." The English drawl was easily recognizable.  
  
"Get out!"  
  
"You've already invited me in, and you don't know the spell to uninvite me, so no. Besides, you need to learn a few rules for living here anyway."  
  
"What rules? Why?"  
  
"You're living less than a mile from the Hellmouth. A person would think your Slayer of a girlfriend would have filled you in on that fact."  
  
"I've been to the site. Actually saw you there if you remember correctly. You were wearing a Hawaiian shirt that looked a little large on you."  
  
"You clearly don't understand what that entails, and I'd like to forget that day ever happened."  
  
"Alright then, Fangless, enlighten me."  
  
"First of all, never answer a knock on your door with 'Come in', no matter who you're expecting. Especially not after sundown."  
  
"Do most vampires make a habit of entering dorms to find food?" Riley asked sarcastically.  
  
"In this town, yes," Spike answered, not even cracking a smile. "There is one dorm in particular which is known for having parties in which everyone ends up drunk. They think the vamp face is the alcohol. Easy targets, those ones."  
  
"Oh.... Next rule?"  
  
"Leave the demons to the Slayer."  
  
"Look, this is my job..."  
  
"And I'm sure you're having loads of fun torturing, experimenting on, and otherwise being complete monsters to demons on your job, but that is not the point. The Slayer is... born to slay demons. The moment the previous slayer died, it became Buffy's calling. Her soul has been joined with that of a demon, so she's able to fight them. And se fights them better without them being lab rats."  
  
"What do you mean 'Complete monsters'? We are human, you know."  
  
"Maybe on the surface, but I gotta say, there are times when I've acted more human than you. I at least kill my victims quickly. You implant chips in their brains that could eventually starve them into being living skeletons!"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"If a vampire can't feed, it becomes a skeleton; unable to die, but unable to support itself. It's somewhere between life and death, and there's almost nothing that can repair the damage."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
"Yeah, 'Oh'! Think things through before cutting something open!"  
  
"Were there any other rules I should know?"  
  
"Yeah. Buffy already belongs to someone."  
  
"Oh? And would that someone be you?"  
  
"No. That's... wrong. No, she belongs to Angel. He's all but claimed her. And she'll go back to him the moment he shows his face 'ere again."  
  
"You can leave now."  
  
"Sting, did it? Truth hurts, Human."  
  
"Get. Out."  
  
"I'm going. Just remember what I said. No slaying, and never answer your door with a 'Come in'."  
  
Spike left the campus and headed back to Giles'. As he entered the house, everyone turned to look at him. Buffy and Giles were standing in opposite corners, Willow was sitting in an armchair, and Xander and Anya were sharing the couch. Spike headed to the fridge and pulled out his blood mug.  
  
"Where have you been?"  
  
"Out."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"College."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"What is this, Twenty Questions?"  
  
"No, it's an interrogation. Now answer the questions."  
  
"Why should I?"  
  
"Not wise to back talk to the ones providing blood."  
  
"Talk to the commando."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He needed to get some things straight."  
  
"Like?"  
  
"Just some rules to live by in this town."  
  
"Example?"  
  
"Never answer the door by telling the person on the other side to come in," Spike sighed.  
  
"Why do you care?"  
  
"I don't. I just know that if anything happens to him, I'll get blamed for it somehow or other."  
  
"He's got a point."  
  
Spike sulked as the others returned to whatever they had been discussing when he walked in. It almost hurt to know that they would blame him for something like Riley getting hurt without even asking. He became so engrossed in his thoughts that he jumped a foot in the air and yelped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up into the sympathetic eyes of Rupert Giles.  
  
"You know that we would ask first, right?"  
  
"Huh?" Oh, good one, Spike! He thought to himself.  
  
"If something happened to Riley. We would ask if you knew anything about it before blaming you."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Oh... thanks... When did the others leave?"  
  
"About twenty minutes ago. You've been staring into space for the past hour."  
  
"Oops."  
  
"Why did you really go to Riley's?"  
  
"Rules. Vampires are supposed to scare people out of town. It didn't work."  
  
= =  
  
A/N: I have no idea where that came from. I was just watching the episode, and that idea came to mind, and then my fingers finished off the rest of the story with my brain on auto pilot. I just bought season four, and I've now watched a grand total of ten Buffy episodes. Yay me! I hope you enjoyed and please review! 


End file.
